Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 20,336 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.6%, acquiring 20,336 additional shares, bringing its total holding to 466,964 shares valued at approximately $54.48 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Morgan Stanley, with Goldman Sachs raising its target price to $136 and changing its rating to "neutral," while Wells Fargo upped its target to $145, also giving it an "equal weight" rating.
• Morgan Stanley has recently approved a $20 billion share buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, indicating strong confidence in its financial stability.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 466,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,336 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $54,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 120,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,142 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $787,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,238,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $281,414,000 after acquiring an additional 892,929 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:MS opened at $141.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $226.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $137.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.28. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.

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